First wave of minimum wage increases took effect

This week we saw the first direct impact that the Democratic Congress has had on working class pocketbooks.  In the first of three increases that take place throughout the next few years, the national minimum wage increased by 70 cents to $5.85 an hour.  When it eventually reaches $7.25 an hour, it will have a huge effect on many some American families:

A person working 40 hours per week at the current minimum wage of $5.15makes about $10,700 a year. A raise to $5.85 an hour would increasethat to $12,168 a year before taxes. An increase to $7.25 would boostthat to just over $15,000 a year.

The federal poverty level for singles is $10,210, couples is $13,690 and $17,170 for families of three.

The minimum wage has remained at $5.15 an hour for roughly a decade -- the longest period without an increase since 1938.

Keep in mind though, as Holly Fechner points out, that even with the wage increase the poor's purchasing power will remain low:

Over the past decade, the purchasing power of the minimum wage fellevery single day, even as costs continued to rise. The bill Congressjust passed merely restores the minimum wage to the same value it hadafter the last increase in 1997.

Of course, the wage hike will not include all workers.

29 states have a higher minimum wage than the federal government.